Black and White
by Sunken Stars
Summary: Work had been demanding, boring, and overall tiring for Weiss. Feeling like things were hopeless, she threw all her chips on a bet that chances were wouldn't pay off. She would never have expected things would actually work in her favor. / Slight angst. / Co-written with Maxaro.


Maxaro: Ladies, gentlemen, and fellow voidspawn, today me and Lonely have something really special for you all; a story that needs some backstory to show just how much it means to me and Lonely.

When we started writing together officially, our first ever project was just planning that eventually turned into actual writing, but beyond that we also tried our hands on writing some other, smaller things. One of them was a Jaune x Weiss story that we never finished, after which this story was made.

Yup, what you're about to see is the third story me and Lonely wrote. It's almost two years old at this point.

Lonely: Eventually our other projects just started to take off and the smaller things were completed as fast as possible after that so we could shift our focus over to the larger stories; that we were actually releasing far too many of, actually. This of course burnt us WAY out, and we ended up just never finishing this one since we had initially planned for so much more than what is even being posted now.

We had planned for, quite possibly, a second chapter. But two years after this son-of-a-bitch took a permanent spot on the backburner for us... I decided to give it a read-over. What I read was something that I felt was fresh, but also cliché and something that has been done before. Is it original? No. Not at all. But it had qualities that I have lately felt have been missing in my own writing that only seem to pop out when Max and I write together.

I wanted to finish it, and, honestly, I don't know what we were thinking, because we left it off at a good spot, I only needed to maybe add another hundred, two hundred words to really finish it. I suppose that's the two years of experience since work began that were telling me that. Back then we didn't really know how to finish a story at all, now that I think about it.

Maxaro: Objectively this might not be the best story we've ever put into writing, but I really couldn't care less about that. This story has a certain place in my heart because I feel that if it weren't for it, me and Lonely wouldn't be where we are today. It helped shape me as a writer, that's for sure, and by extension, me as a person.

I know updates and new stories have dried up a lot over this past year and believe me when I say that said fact hurts me more than anyone else, but my life has been a busy mess for awhile now. Assignments from school along with my own stressful thoughts has left me with little to no energy to work on writing. It's a hobby I love dearly and one that I hope I can get back to fully once this school term has finally passed, but until then I'm just too exhausted to pour my life into it like I did before.

Lonely really has a patience of a saint when it comes to my stressed out ass, and I love them dearly for that.

... even if they do ship the wrong stuff in Overwatch sometimes~...

Lonely: Hey, Mercy x Dva is the best ship in the world... Speaking of, if anyone can find my secret FanFiction account where I post Overwatch Fanfics... well you'll probably get nothing but I may write you something short as a prize.

Anyway, this story popping up again is a great thing, because I'm sure Max feels like it's been such a long time since we released anything. And I just really wanted to lessen his stress at least a little bit. So I'm glad that I remembered this little gem. I love you, beloved!~

* * *

Weiss Schnee was not a heavy drinker. She had responsibilities after all. Once she had taken her father's position, she had instantly become busy. She hadn't really foreseen that the job would basically be an end to her career as a Huntress, and while that wasn't technically true (she still went on missions every now and then and still bore the Huntress title), to her it really seemed like it. She hadn't really had the time to spend with her friends anymore. And that was why Weiss Schnee was going, as Yang said, heavy on the alcohol.

It seemed like forever since she had last seen her friends. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, even Jaune; she hadn't heard from any of them in weeks. So now she was drinking alone in one of Vale's many bars. The reason she had come here in the first place was to hopefully catch any of her friends, telling the higher-ups at the company that she needed to check in on a contract with Beacon to avoid their nagging.

She didn't even know what she was drinking, just that is was very strong and this was her third glass, anything to make the longing for her friends lessen. She wanted to be surprised no one was here, but she knew better than anyone just how busy life after Beacon had gotten.

Her third glass slowly turned into her fourth, and she was surprised she wasn't really close to tipsy yet. She usually couldn't hold her alcohol well, though it had been some time since she actively _tried_ to get drunk. She was certainly more of a lightweight than... Yang...

A deep sigh escaped her as her thoughts continued to circle back to her friends and she tiredly laid her head down on the bar with a dull, saddened expression. Lately, things had seemed so black and white.

"What are you doing here, Weiss?" she asked herself.

The odds of anyone she knew being at the bar were little to none, so why on Remnant had she convinced herself it had been a good idea?

"I think I should be asking you that, Snow Angel," came a voice that sounded familiar, yet not at all familiar.

It was deeper than Weiss remembered and finally held real confidence, unlike what it had held back at Beacon, but that name... only two people had ever called her that, and one of them would probably rather fight Grimm naked than dare to come anywhere near her again. That left only one person.

"Jaune...?" no matter how much he had annoyed her during their first year at Beacon and no matter how hearing his voice made her stomach twist in that horrible way, Weiss couldn't suppress the hopeful tone in her voice.

"The one and only," the knight himself replied, and she lifted her head up and got a good look at him. He looked different, she quickly noted. So, so different. He had scars on his face; not too many, but enough to tell her that he'd seen some battles. He was... a lot more muscular. The humorous light in his eyes was gone as well, she noticed, or at least far dimmer than she remembered it being.

The last time they had all met up, he didn't really talk to her, something that made her feel confused and angry. Sure, they hadn't really been the best of friends for a while, but they were still friends.

"Now, I'm going to have to ask you what you're doing in a bar in Vale, surrounded by three empty glasses, and drinking what I can only assume is your fourth glass."

Weiss gave a bitter laugh at that. "Well, I was looking for you." He raised his eyebrow, settling down on a stool beside her. "Well, not just you. Or you in particular. I was looking for anyone really..."

"And you came to Vale for that?" Despite losing the humorous light, Jaune's eyes were still a pair of endless cobalt oceans, deep enough to get lost in, Weiss couldn't help but take note before responding.

"I wanted to go to Patch at first, but even though I miss them, it didn't feel polite barging right into Ruby and Yang's home. Especially after not seeing anyone for so long."

It was Jaune's turn to let out a dry chuckle. "Not exactly what I meant. If you wanted to meet up why not just give Ruby a call? Going all the way here just for a chance to see anyone from the old gang seems like a waste of resources, especially since the chances were so slim even from the start."

Weiss closed her eyes, and when they opened again they were staring deep into her drink. The drink she'd ordered at random. If she didn't want to get drunk she would have ordered something like a martini, or something else that fit her air of sophistication. She would have slowly enjoyed it. But it stands that she ordered a random drink. Four random drinks. "Yeah, maybe I just wanted an excuse to get drunk." This was followed by another swig, and Jaune's eyes grew worried. She knew that look he was giving her. It was an old one. Apparently, some things never changed.

"Are you okay, Weiss?"

She shook her head.

"Life is busy, stressful, and boring. I remember when it was bright, free, and exciting. Sure, I didn't know if I was going to live or die on a daily basis, but it was worth it to me. I was making myself proud. I was with friends. And now look where I'm at. I'm the head of a corporation and I couldn't give a damn if I woke up in some dark alley wearing nothing but underwear. Actually, that would be pretty exciting." She smiled wryly, and Jaune knew she was joking.

"When did you get such a dark sense of humor?" he asked, not holding back his laugh.

"About the same time I realized making up for all of _Mr_. Schnee's horrible 'mistakes' would take longer than my entire life Span." She took a large swig of her drink, the burning feeling it created in the back of her throat making her bite back a cough, but still helping with lessening the disappointment this entire trip had turned out to be.

"I can imagine. I don't know much about diplomacy and I doubt I ever will but even I can see you and Blake have your hands full with this shit. At least the old bastard is dead now, we can take some solace in that." As he spoke, Jaune waved over one of the bartenders, ordering his own drink. He hated seeing Weiss like this, and he figured the least he could do was give her a drinking partner.

"I guess, but he died as a powerful, rich man, not a pathetic, oppressive, murderous pile of filth like he deserved," Weiss sneered, feeling a pit in her stomach just by thinking about the horrible man she at one time, albeit reluctantly even then, called her father.

"Winter can't help at all? At least you have Blake if you have no one else." Even Blake was too busy to see her. She figured hiring a friend to help with running a business would make it easier. She figured having that person be a Faunus would make everyone happier. But of course not. The high-class asshole racists were angry at her for hiring a Faunus above them in the chain of command. Blake also had to go on so many business trips away from Atlas.

"Jaune, there's no person on Remnant that wishes it was that easy more than me, but Winter is too busy with the military and Blake is too busy dealing with 'foreign relations'. Trust me, if there was an easy way out I'd have taken it _long_ ago." She waved to the bartender for another drink as Jaune got his.

He wasn't going to stop her from trying to drink her sorrows away, he knew better than anyone just how hypocritical it would be if he did; he had used the same tactic many times before. "I met up with her on a solo mission to Vacuo not too long ago. Blake, I mean. She certainly seemed stressed too, considering how violent she was when we sparred." He emptied his glass in one swig, shaking his head to try and lessen the 'impact' of the drink. "Look, Weiss, I'm not going to pretend I know anything about what you're going through, but I still consider you a friend, and I want to help you any way I can. If you want help with anything, please don't hesitate to ask. These past few months have been tough on all of us and I don't want to lose you just because of some bureaucratic bullshit."

Weiss smiled weakly, glad that Jaune had offered. Truthfully, there was sadly nothing he could do, nothing at all, but it was still nice to hear him say it. It gave her a good feeling. No matter where she was, she had friends that wanted to help her. "Thanks, Jaune, but right now? I think I just want to drink."

"Well, I'd gladly join you if you want a drinking partner?" Weiss nodded her head.

"Thank you, Jaune..."

"You don't have to thank me, Weiss, I'm just being a friend."

* * *

It had taken eleven strong drinks and more lien than Weiss knew she could get away with, but she was finally piss-drunk. Drunk and slightly happier. Jaune was there with her, a true friend, and that made her happy enough to ignore the absolutely awful world they lived in. In this case, ignorance, or drunken stupidity, was certainly bliss.

It let her forget how lonely she had felt recently and how odd she felt seeing Jaune again. He had always made her feel odd, it was one of the reasons why she never really tried to get closer to him after finding out how truly nice, yet goofy he was back in their Beacon days. But now she could ignore the strange tightening of her chest he always caused, all thanks to the wonderful gift of alcohol.

"You know Jaune, the world is absolutely terrible, and life is pretty boring right now, but I'm glad I'm here now..." Weiss slurred as an equally as blasted Jaune helped her through the threshold of one of the homes she owned in Vale. It was dark out, the only other bit of life being the snow falling down around them. As they stepped inside, Jaune flipped the switch and the living room lit up. It was spacious, as he expected, and it had an abundance of white, minimalist design choices.

Jaune didn't know much about interior design, but even he could tell a lot of care and effort went into making the place stand out from Vale's standard interior architecture. He stumbled with a terribly unbalanced Weiss on his arm and fell onto the incredibly soft couch with her. She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad I'm here too, Weiss..."

"I've missed you... I've missed all of you, but you, in particular, Jaune, have been in my head a lot recently..." her body relaxed against his shoulder, the warmth he was giving of soothing her and the strange tightness in her chest feeling comforting, in a way, for once. "I... I don't like how things between us ended, I feel as if a rift had formed, but we never talked about it..."

Jaune couldn't help but notice, even in his drunken state, that even though her speech was slurred and much slower than usual, Weiss was still very eloquent in her word choice. It seemed not even the divine power that was booze could erase all prim and proper from his Snow angel. The thought made him laugh a little, causing Weiss to look up at him questioningly.

"Y-yeah... things could have gone better. I want to say, uh, something, but, alcohol is making things fuzzy... words not there." She leaned further into him. "Maybe, this time things can end well. I think. If we try. Maybe it doesn't have to end?" At that, Weiss pushed away from him, swaying only slightly.

"What are you saying, Jaune?"

"Weiss... do you think feelings, old feelings, can, uh, go away?" She didn't. Feelings may leave for a small while, but they were always there inside of you. If you tried to run away then things only became harder. Only in accepting the feelings and confronting them could you make your life better, and feel at peace. No matter what those feelings were, and what emotion they were connected to.

"I don't, no." She went back to leaning against him, closer than before.

"Then... we could try the friend thing again... right?" Even closer.

"Yeah..." even... closer. "Jaune, stay with me tonight...?"

Weiss' scent assaulted his senses, and Jaune could hardly believe just how much something so little could affect his brain. It had been years since he last thought about his feelings towards the Schnee family head mere inches from him, but one fact back from the Beacon days they had shared still remained firm in his mind; he loved this girl. This _woman_. He had loved her for some time. Sure, it may have started as some shallow crush, but after getting to know her Jaune knew this was more than just affection.

He wasn't an expert on feelings, and he would never claim to be, but he could differentiate between love and attraction. Weiss had attracted him at first, but after having caught a glimpse of what was hiding beneath her shell his feelings had grown, evolved, and his actions had changed. No longer had he pestered her about dates or tried to hit on her whenever he got the chance. Instead, he'd given her space. Because he cared. Because he hadn't and didn't want the girl he loved to be angry or annoyed at him. Because, after Neptune, he'd accepted that she didn't feel anything romantic for him.

And now here she was, asking him to stay the night with her.

Had he not been drunk, Jaune might have refused or at least controlled himself better, but with his mind a haze from both the alcohol and his love for Weiss Schnee, he couldn't stop himself.

"Of course, Snow angel..." Jaune whispered.

Her lips met his, and what ensued was the heat of passion, and lust was spilled out upon the floor, and the walls caved in as it flooded every single inch of the room. His hands found her sides, and his eyes opened only when she pulled away and looked into his. "Let's go to the bedroom..."

He obeyed silently.

* * *

Weiss opened her eyes. Something was different. Something was off. She recognized the ceiling she was staring at; she was in one of the homes she owned in Vale, her favorite in fact, but the bed felt different. Her head throbbed from the hangover she had, but when she turned to her side, her breath escaped in a stifled gasp, the feeling she usually got in her stomach when seeing Jaune Arc becoming so intense in that moment she felt like she was going to be sick.

Memories suddenly came rushing back to her. She had gotten drunk. And he had stayed with her at the bar, probably helped her home as well. Small bits and pieces of the night before flooded her now sober mind and the headache she had was all but forgotten as she flushed bright red. She had asked him. She, Weiss Schnee, had asked Jaune Arc to stay with her, and because she, herself, had asked for it, they'd had sex.

She stumbled out of bed and walked into the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom. One look into the mirror and Weiss didn't see what she expected to see. There was no horrible shock, there was no stress, there were no dark bags under her eyes, no. She looked... normal. As normal as a twenty-five-year-old woman could look. And there was one thing that shocked her beyond anything.

She was smiling.

She had had sex with the boy, or man now, that had made her confused and unnerved with regards to her feeling for the past seven years. She'd had sex with something other than a toy or her hand; with another _person_ for the first time since Neptune. She had, in her drunken stupor, created a bomb of unclear and confusing feelings, ready to blow up at any second.

And she was smiling. Happily. Blissfully. Like she hadn't done in years.

And... she didn't regret her actions. Her feelings were a whirlwind of confusion and her chest was tighter than ever before, but she didn't regret a single thing. Weiss Schnee had had sex, fantastic sex at that, with Jaune Arc, and she wouldn't change a thing if she could.

Despite her throbbing skull and her almost nauseous stomach, Weiss felt happy.

Then her smile fell, and she immediately rushed out into the bedroom and looked in the trash can by her bed. She sighed In relief, laughing a bit as she steadied herself by sitting down on the bed. A very clearly used condom was thrown in the mix of random paper. She remembered because she tried to, hard enough to make her head explode, that Jaune had had one in his wallet. Her aura was already making her feel a little better.

"Well, at least we aren't _that_ stupid when we're drunk..." she said to herself, causing Jaune to groan in response.

She really, really, really didn't want to be in the same room with him as he woke up. It was a confrontation she didn't want to deal with. He needed to figure things out as she had because she knew that no matter how much she had gotten used to social interaction these past years, awkward moments were the bane of her existence. So she quickly went and gathered her clothing and headed back into the bathroom, getting in the shower as fast as possible.

For several long minutes she just stood beneath the hot water as it cascaded down her body, her eyes closed, and her body unmoving. She felt happy, she couldn't and didn't really want to, deny that, but this was still a big thing. A massive thing. And if it wasn't handled correctly it would cause her and Jaune's... _relationship_ to be damaged forever.

She didn't want that. No matter how odd he made her feel, Weiss didn't want Jaune out of her life. He was a friend, perhaps even more than that if the night before was anything to go by, and losing him would mean something else she had failed at since leaving Beacon.

She knew that she would have to confront him about this, and she would have to talk to him and figure things out. That was the responsible adult thing to do, wasn't it?

She reached out and turned the water off after washing herself completely, and she just stood there in silence. Listening. Jaune wasn't in the room, perhaps he had left. Or was waiting his turn for the shower. She got out and dried off, and upon dressing left the safe comfort of the bathroom.

Jaune just looked at her. Though she could tell he was fighting back emotion. He was waiting for her to talk, she knew. But she still needed to think. It seemed he realized this, as he moved past her and went into the bathroom himself, shutting the door and allowing her privacy to do just that.

Would they be able to remain friends after this? She doubted that. A flashback to the night before once more, about how he asked if they could just try, as he put it, _the friend thing again_. She let out a frustrated groan. Could they just do that? Was that really an option? She still didn't know if that was what she even wanted, but he had felt so right to be with. She could remember that much.

And waking up next to him felt right too. even with the shock of it all-

"Weiss," came Jaune's voice, and she jumped, not expecting to be interrupted so soon. Or maybe she had just lost track of time. "We really need to talk about this." She straightened her back and cleared her voice.

"Yes, I suppose we do."

Silence reigned over the pair, even if they agreed that they needed to talk. Neither of them knew how to start or what to say even. It had happened so fast, yet so gradually at the same time. For seven long years they had done nothing about it, only letting it grow in Jaune's case and repressing it harder in Weiss', but in one night everything between them had changed.

If it was for the better or worse, though, was what their talk right here and now would determine.

What to bring up was the main question. Should they talk about their feelings on the matter? The fact that they even did it in the first place? How they were drunk?

Jaune sat next to her, as close as he dared. "Weiss, do you regret it?" he asked.

"No!" Weiss answered without a trace of hesitation. "No, I don't. In fact, if anything I needed it." He gave her a confused stare. "Life has been so hectic, I haven't really had time for anything other than work." She began nervously twiddling her fingers. "I guess you could say romance has been the last thing on my mind. I haven't really thought of going out and finding some guy, or girl to date, or spend the night with, it just... felt wrong. Like I was waiting for something. But I really did need it. And I'm just glad it happened with a friend and not some stranger."

"Oh... I guess I'm… happy I helped then..." to say that this was awkward was a cataclysmic understatement, but even still Jaune couldn't help but feel happy in a way.

He had spent the night with Weiss, the girl he loved, and she didn't regret it. For him, that really was enough, or that was what he told himself. He would have done this for anyone else too, right? It wasn't just that Weiss meant more to him than he could even fathom that made him feel so calm, right?

Silence once again fell over the pair. The ice had been broken, at least somewhat, so now all that remained was to check how deep the hole was, right?

"I... we don't need to make a big deal about this if you don't want to, Weiss. If you just want to go back to the way things were then that's fine with me." Jaune knew it was impossible for them to go back to what they were, to what they had, but he still wanted Weiss to know that this didn't need to be something big.

Weiss fell back on the bed and stretched. Jaune watched her hair splay out all over the covers. Long waterfalls of silver-white that seemed to glow around her. "Jaune..." she took a deep breath, gathered her courage and pulled him down next to her. "I think I need to see if it wasn't just that I was drunk that I felt the way I did." Jaune knew what she was asking. But she acted before he could.

She stole a kiss. A deep, passionate kiss that felt like heaven to Jaune. Those soft lips that he only ever imagined up against his. Their tongues met, touched each other for a moment, then she pulled away, seemingly thinking hard on it.

Another moment of silence passed.

"What are you thinking?" Jaune asked eventually, his tone careful.

"I don't know."

Weiss did know what she was thinking, but she felt... scared almost to admit it. Seven long years she had fought to keep her emotions under control, hidden away from everyone, even herself, but around Jaune, she couldn't. His mere presence caused her heart to beat faster and her body to heat up, but she had ignored it, decided that it wasn't what she thought it was. And almost every day during their first year at Beacon he had acted like a dunce and tried to ask her out, which had made it even easier to make her believe that her feelings might even be disdain.

But then came Neptune, and she got to see another side of Jaune Arc. She had acted just as dunce-like as he had, becoming obsessed with the blue haired boy just like Jaune had with her. Then came the dance, and Jaune talked to Neptune. He had convinced someone he knew was interested in the same girl as he was to seek said girl out. He had ignored his own happiness for hers.

And though her happiness was relatively short-lived, what with her and Neptune breaking things off on rather awful terms when he was leaving with his team after the Vytal Festival, she remembered all the good times she had had because of Jaune. And she also remembered the bad times she had had because of Jaune. Because he'd promised her that he would leave her alone, and she had thought that would have been the end of it. But it hadn't been. She'd just felt worse after that. No Neptune, and no Jaune. The only two people she had been romantically interested in, and one had been was gone, with the other having left her alone. She hadn't dealt with that well at all.

Then they had graduated Beacon and they all went their separate ways for a long time. And now that Weiss knew what her feelings were so many things made sense. But could she admit it openly to him? She knew that if they pursued this... it would potentially change Jaune's life, and not for the better. She would be getting the better deal out of the whole thing. How could Jaune handle having his... _girlfriend_ be the head of one of the largest corporations on Remnant? How could he handle being suddenly thrust into that situation?

She was scared for that reason and that reason alone. "Jaune, I… do you want _this_ to become... something more...?" Before she thought about anything else, though, she needed to know this. If Jaune wanted them to part just as friends there would be no point in worrying about their future. There wouldn't be a _them_ after all. Despite how much it would hurt her to think about it...

Jaune stayed silent for a moment, merely looking deeply into her eyes with those cobalt pools of his before he closed the distance between them and kissed her softly.

Weiss returned the kiss but made no move to deepen it and neither did Jaune. It stayed soft, gentle, just their lips touching, but still, there was deep affection within the act, from both sides. They kissed for what seemed like ages, neither of them wanting to break it, but Jaune needed to speak, needed to be completely honest for once.

"Nothing would make me happier... I... I love you, Weiss..."

Those words. The words she had been avoiding for so many years. He had said them, which meant that she had to say them back, didn't it? Isn't that what that meant? Did she love him? The feeling in her stomach grew to levels she couldn't even imagine, and she just swallowed and pulled him into another kiss. It would give her time to think.

Was there something more to her feelings? Did it go beyond simply liking him? The answer was simple; yes, and she had to come to terms with it. She couldn't keep deciding and then only thinking more about it afterward. She needed to say it. She needed to make it final. She pulled away from the kiss and buried her head into his neck. They laid there for a short while Weiss gathered her breath, her courage.

"I love you too, Jaune… I really do..."

And now there was one thought on both of their minds... ' _Where do we go from here?'_

Whatever happened, Jaune knew he wouldn't leave Weiss' side if she allowed it. He also knew it was naïve of him to think like this, but he didn't fucking care. For seven years he had struggled with his feelings for the woman in his arms, and now he just wanted to be with her. For her, he would do anything, give up anything, sacrifice anything. He just wanted the _thing_ that had gnawed on his heart ever since he knew he loved Weiss Schnee, no matter what that entailed.

He just wanted to love her.

"Jaune..." Weiss whimpered in his arms. He looked at her in shock. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." She started sobbing. Jaune quickly pulled her closer and ran his hand through her hair. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I didn't!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay Weiss, what's wrong?" Weiss took a shaky breath and managed to hold back a few more sobs threatening to escape her. She shakily looked up into his eyes, and his heart broke. There were tears running down her cheek, and the look in her eyes told him that something was terribly wrong.

"I have to go back to Atlas..."

For a moment, Jaune froze, still clutching Weiss in his arms. He knew what the implication of her returning home meant, how much trouble it would cause for them if they wanted to become a _them_. He didn't want to lose her. Not when they had finally done something with the rift that had been created between them. He didn't want to let her go.

"I-I'm so sorry, Jaune..."

There were only two options in his mind. Either he and Weiss broke this thing off before it honestly even started and tried to go back to normal, him returning to being a huntsman and her returning to being the head of the SDC, _or_ he dropped everything and went with her back to Atlas, figuring out just what he would do later, and staying by her side forever...

It was one of the most simple choices he had ever had to make.

His embrace became tighter, more secure, and he nuzzled her hair softly, letting her know wordlessly that there was absolutely no way he would let this ruin whatever it was that had happened. "I'll go with you," he said.

Weiss wiped the tears out of her eyes and pushed into his shoulder. "Why would you willingly do a thing like that?" she asked. "My life isn't great, Jaune. I may be surrounded by luxury, but it's boring. And you'd hardly see me..." constant hours would be spent with her head in a stack of papers, and more often than not she would just return to him stressed and tired. "It wouldn't be a good time."

"I don't care, Weiss. If I can be there for you, I will. And honestly, in a selfish sort of way, it's kind of what I always wanted." That small confession brought her mind back to years before, and all the caring, loving gazes he had ever sent her way. So similar, in fact, to the one he was giving her now. She looked up into his eyes, and her hand found his. She didn't say anything, but she pushed him down onto the bed, and silently, they just laid there until she had thought about his proposition. She had to, she had been forced to think so much that thinking about life changing decisions like this was something she had to do.

No longer was she just the small, lonely heiress who could throw caution to the wind and agree with his fantasy. She knew actions had consequences, the only question was: Were the consequences here worth the risk of driving him away further than she had before?

She didn't want to lose him, and the selfish part of her wanted to take him with her without any regard to the consequences, but, fortunately, she had learned to control said selfish part. If he came with her, found work in Atlas, and they officially became an item, how would he cope with only getting to see her after long days of tedious work? How would he, and why would he want to, deal with having to only be able to be with her when she was tired and, most likely, annoyed? She didn't want to take him with her only to realize that it would never work and then have to watch as their entire relationship went up in flames.

Sure, she was still friends with Blake, even if they never really had the time to speak to one another outside of business talk, but she didn't love Blake like she did Jaune. Blake was a friend, a dearly beloved friend, but still a friend. Jaune was more than that, and he had been for some time even if she hadn't been able to admit it. She wasn't longingly dependent on a physical relationship, she had fought long and hard to not be anymore, but she didn't want to go about her day knowing she would never have the amount of energy necessary to make Jaune happy in that regard. She wanted to have him close, not because she needed to, but because she wanted to and how could she do that while being the head of the SDC?

"I just want to do what's best for us, and I'm not really sure what that is," she admitted. "Jaune, no matter how much you say you don't care, you will. I know that, you know that... I can't give you what I could have years ago." Jaune ran his fingers through her pure white tresses.

"What you could have given me back then would have eventually turned into this. We would have had a few years of comfort, a few years where you and I were nothing more than huntress and huntsman, but eventually, that would have ended. Our paths wouldn't have changed in the long run. We would have ended up right back here eventually. Maybe not in the same way, but... still. We would have." Jaune was prepared for anything at this point in his life. After years of danger, leaving scars on him both visible and invisible to the eye, he thought he was prepared for whatever it is a relationship with her brought to the table.

"I just... I don't know. Can we handle it? I know we probably can individually, but can _we_?"

He placed a soft, but longing kiss against her forehead before breaking the contact and smiling down at her. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't. Right now, as much I'd want to, I don't know..." Her mouth opened to retort, but he lightly pressed his finger against her lips. _"But,_ there is one thing I do know. None of us; you, me, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, or Ren, has ever been against taking a risk if we think it's worth it. And if it means I can stay with you, Weiss, I think the risk is certainly worth it... we might not have a fairy tale romance, we might not see each other as much as either of us wants, but I _believe_ that we can make it work."

At times like these, Weiss often wished she wasn't a Schnee. She never wanted to be an heiress, never wanted to become the head of a company that had been under the rule of one of the most despicable men she had ever even heard of. At times like these, she wished she could do what Jaune had done so many years ago. She wished she could run away from her name, from the SDC, and just do what her heart felt was right, not her mind.

"You're right... or at least I hope you are. Alright Jaune, we can try." She grabbed his hand and pulled it up to her cheek, pressing into it and closing her eyes with a smile. "It's just... this is so sudden. It happened so quickly. I'm still kind of confused. Just a bit. I don't remember much of last night... not as much as I wish I did. Because I feel amazing. Better than I have in years. I haven't felt this way since..." She bit her lip, not wanting to bring up her past romances and sexual experiences, but Jaune knew who and what she was talking about. He kissed her again, this time on the lips, and she accepted immediately.

It was sweet, loving, and Weiss never wanted it to end. She was strong, independent, and that was thanks to Winter, but with just how the SDC as a whole was at the moment she knew she needed help. And, hopefully, Jaune could help her. Not by dancing around legal battles and bureaucratic nonsense, but by giving her someone to lean on, even if she often didn't need it. He could be her safety net, not often used, but she was eternally grateful if he was there when she did need someone. Someone to talk to, someone who could just hold her, someone she knew loved her.

"I plan on sticking around a lot longer... that would never have worked out well, he had to leave, but I don't. I never will unless you want me to." The look in her eyes said she would never want him to, but she know how things often worked, so she didn't hold her breath.

"We can leave tomorrow, just... can we just spend the day together? Like old friends...?" she asked slowly, getting so close to him that their noses brushed against one another softly. It was an intimate move that Jaune wasn't expecting to be done so soon, but he supposed not much could be held back after the night they shared.

"Whatever you want to do, I'll gladly follow along," he replied, kissing her on her lips again and making her sigh in contentment. "Just being around you is fun, and, to be honest with you, I've been able to do what I want for a long time, but you? It's time you had a little freedom."

Weiss gave him a smile. A smile so pure and exuding happiness that he felt blessed to see it. "Then we're going to go to Patch today and pay a visit to some old friends. And maybe blow their minds with some news."

"Sounds wonderful," Jaune said with a laugh. "I'll send them a head's up, and tell them to expect us by noon."

And just like that, Weiss felt like maybe her trip to Vale paid off in spades.


End file.
